Family environment and child development

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Family instability, child development and family policy

• IRAS ID

  259456

• Contact name

  Kai Liu

• Contact email

  kl450@cam.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  University of Cambridge

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 11 months, 28 days

• Research summary

  More children are living in non-marital cohabiting couple families than before. Cohabitation is less stable than marriage, and accompanying with the large increase in cohabitation is the relatively high percentage of children experiencing transitions into single-parent families and stepfamilies. In this project, we use an
  economic model combined with detailed microeconomic data to study the causal impact of changes in family environment on children's cognitive, behavioural and health outcomes. The estimated model allows us to investigate the relative importance of various mechanisms underlying the relationship between family instability and children development. We conduct policy analysis that highlights the value of family policies such as welfare support for lone parent and child support in mitigating the impact.

• REC name

  East of England - Cambridge South Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  19/EE/0026

• Date of REC Opinion

  15 Mar 2019

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion